Shaper head



J. H. OSBORN Nov. 15, 1960 SHAPER HEAD Filed Dec. 21, 1959 INVENTOR. JBHA/ H. OSBOEA/ 0 T TOR/V5 V United States Patent 'ce SHAPER HEAD John H. Osborn, 811 Tinton Ave., Eatontown, NJ. Filed Dec. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 861,091 4 Claims. (Cl. 144-240) This invention is a shaper head adapted for use in machines for the shaping of wood stock to form strip moldings, rails, or other products of any desired shape.

Shaper heads have long been used for the purposes stated. They have heretofore invariably embodied a plurality of collars mounted upon an appropriate spindle in spaced apart relation and forced toward one another, generally by a nut on the threaded spindle, to clamp the cutters between them. In the past all of the collars, so used, have been made with coating radial faces which are substantially radially flat, except for the semi dovetail slots provided for the reception of the longitudinal edges of the cutters. Examples of this prior practice are exhibited in the following patents: No. 607,394, July 12, 1898, to Hatch; No. 1,014,794, January 16, 1912, to Weirbach, and No. 1,754,930, April 12, 1930, to Bean et al.

Each of these patents show a vertical spindle on which are mounted two superimposed pairs of cutters. The lowermost pair of oppositely projecting cutters are of the same height and are interposed between the lowermost collar and an intermediate collar, while the upper pair of oppositely projecting cutters are also of the same height and are clamped between the intermediate collar and the uppermost collar. With these arrangements, it is thus manifest that, in order to shape, e.g., a strip molding, equal in height to the height of the upper and lower cutters, it is absolutely essential to employ four separate and independent cutters.

Cutters used in shaper heads are expensive. They are generally of high speed or tool steel ground by hand. A high degree of skill is required in their making for their height must be very accurately determined in order that all of the cutters, when clamped upon the spindle, will be positively locked in place, otherwise, when the head is operated at high speed, a loose cutter may fly out and seriously injure an operator or caused damage to property.

The object of the present invention is to provide a shaper head wherein operations heretofore requiring the use of a plurality of pairs of cutters can be efiiciently carried out through the employment of just one half as many cutters and a correspondingly less number of collars on the spindle. Where under prior practice it was necessary to use, for example, four 1" cutters and three collars to cut a 2" strip molding, the present invention is such as to accomplish the same result with two 1" outters and two collars.

The object of this invention is achieved by using collars, the adjacent faces of which are stepped with the risers of the two collars overlapping in a plane which includes the axis of the spindle to lock the collars against relative rotation. The semi dove-tail grooves for the reception of the longitudinal edges of each cutter are positioned within the corresponding opposing faces of the two collars at the corresponding side of the steps thereof and the cutting edges of the cutters project from the 2,960,129 Patented Nov. 15, 1960 opposite sides of the assembled head, so that, when the head is rotated at the conventional high speed, the cutters act upon the stock in rapid succession at different elevations.

This invention has many advantages over prior practice. -In addition to the requirement for less cutters, it permits of suflicient overlap of the edges of the two cutters at different elevations to produce two cutting zones with no line on the stock indicating the operations of the different cutters. It also permits the cutting of reentrant angles with sharp corners, as well as sharp edges, which are highly desirable in high class moldings but extremely difiicult to achieve under prior practice.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and appended claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The drawing illustrates one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a cutter head embodying the present invention showing two cutters in place therein.

Fig. la is a cross section of strip molding, such as would be accurately cut with the shaper head shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1, but viewing the shaper slot at to the showing in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lowermost collar removed from the spindle.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a spindle provided at its lower end with an abutment 2, and 3 and 4 designate two collars between which a single cutter 5 and a single cutter 6 are adapted to be clamped by a nut 7 threaded onto the spindle and acting upon said loose collars through a washer 8.

The fundamental feature of this invention is exhibited best in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein the adjacent faces of the collars 3 and 4 are shown as stepped to provide vertical riser surfaces 9 and 10, respectively. These surfaces are arranged substantially in a diametric common plane which includes the axis of the spindle 1. These riser surfaces extend uninterruptedly diametrically of each of the collars and are only interrupted by the central holes through which the spindle 4 extends with a close sliding fit.

The under side of the collar 3 is provided with an upper horizontal surface 11 and a lower horizontal surface 12, while the lower collar has an upper horizontal surface 13 and a lower horizontal surface 14. Thus the surfaces 11 and '13 are opposed with respect to one an other in parallel planes and the same is true of the surfaces 12 and 14.

Each pair of surfaces 11 and 13 and 12 and 1 4 are provided vw'th grooves 15 and 16 to receive the l'lOriZOntal edges of the cutters 5 and 6. In practice the grooves 15 of the respective collars are preferably made slightly deeper than the grooves 16 of these collars so as to better assure overlapping of the cuts in the stock performed by these two cutters.

When the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 2 with the nut 7 tightened to firmly grip the cutters in place, the pressure applied by the nut through opposed collars will be distributed equally to both cutters and will thus serve to effectually lock both of them against inadvertent release while the head is in operation. This is made possible 'by the employment of the stepped construction to which reference has been made and wherein the two collars interacting in the manner described make possible the employment of two cutters where at least four were heretofore required under the best prior practice.

It will of course be understood that, while the drawing shows cutters of a particular shape adapted to form strip molding of the character shown in Fig. let, I may use cutters of any appropriate shape depending upon the shapes to be cut and the depths of different portions of the surfaces of the resulting molding. Also the cutters may vary in height according to the work to be done.

In practice the collars 3 and 4 are generally made identical in shape, and one is inverted with respect to the other, so that they cooperate accurately with one another to perform the functions and produce the results stated.

It is necessary to the proper performance of this in vention that the collars be locked to one another against relative rotation. In the preferred form shown in the drawing, this is accomplished by mutual engagement of their riser surfaces. However, it should be understood that splines, pins or any other suitable means may be utilized for this purpose without departing from this invention.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shaper head comprising: a spindle, a pair of opposed collars mounted on said spindle and adjustable toward and away from one another, the adjacent faces of said collars being complementarily stepped to provide diametric overlapping riser surfaces occupying a plane which includes the axis of the spindle with the opposing surfaces of said collars at each side of the riser surfaces thereof arranged in radial axially spaced apart planes normal to the axis of the spindle and having formed in said opposed surfaces grooves forming seats for the longitudinal edges of a cutter, a cutter in each two opposed grooves, and means for forcing said collars toward one another to clamp cutters between said collars at different elevations and the collars rigidly to the spindle.

2. A shaper head according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent edges of the cutters overlap for overlapping cutting performance.

3. A shaper head according to claim 1, wherein the collars are stepped substantially identically with one another and are arranged on the spindle in inverted relation to one another.

4. Ashaper head comprising: a spindle, a pair of opposed collars mounted on said spindle and adjustable toward and away from one another, the adjacent faces of said collars being complementarily stepped to provide overlapping riser surfaces, with the opposing radial surfaces of said collars at each side of the riser surfaces thereof axially spaced apart and having formed in said opposed surfaces grooves forming seats for the longitudinal edges of a cutter, a cutter in each two opposed grooves, and means for forcing said collars toward one another to clamp cutters between said collars at different elevations and the collars rigidly to the spindle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 29,768 Christian Aug. 28, 1860 953,949 Hauser Apr. 5, 1910 987,479 Mitchell Mar. 21, 1911 1,201,696 Cederhol-m Oct. 17, 1916 2,239,615 Melde Apr. 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 794 7 Great Britain of 1865 48,740 Switzerland June 18, 1910 49,653 Switzerland Dec. 22, 1909 457,187 Germany Mar. 10, 1928 1,160,223 France Feb. 24, 1958 

